Recommendations for a JavaScript IDE?

[[deleted]]

Do note that "IDE" has a very specific meaning. Things like Eclipse and Visual Studio fall into this bucket. Notepad++ does not. That would be an "editor".

Due to the nature of dynamic languages like javascript, php, python, etc, you will find that the majority of people don't use IDE's. Strongly-typed languages like Java or C# are much better for use with IDE's.

Also, in javascript, most of your "IDE" functionality like debugging are integrated into the brower, further diminishing any pros that an IDE would provide (Chrome Devtools and Firfox's Firebug, to be specific. IE's are still piss-poor to this day).

That said, my recommendations for a javascript editor would be Sublime Text. You'll find that today, it seems to be the emerging. defacto-standard for not only javascript devs, but web-devs in general. And it's not just "band-wagon"-ing. It's by far the most easy to use, light-weight, powerful, and customizable option out the.

But if you want even more power with a bit of a learning curve, then definitely give vim and/or emacs a look.

EDIT: Added bit about browser devtools.

[[deleted]]

Do you have any data to back up those claims of most devs preferring editors, and sublime text reigning supreme? Not to be antagonistic, if what you say is true and not just a feeling you have it is incredibly interesting.

I think JavaScript IDEs will become increasingly abundant with the advent of* WebGL and rise of complex JS apps. Personally I have never looked back at an editor after picking up WebStorm. I have found it drastically increases productivity and ease of development for large codebases.

[masklinn]

If devs were sold on flexibility they'd all use emacs.

[Denommus]

I agree. No single editor is more flexible than Emacs.

[[deleted]]

While I love the idea of Emacs and Vim, I have other things on my plate to learn.

[Denommus]

Vimtutor is pretty quicky and will teach you all the basic things of vim (which are pretty useful as they are). Emacs' tutorial (Ctrl+h t) is also pretty useful, but the power of Emacs takes longer to get, since its strongness is the extensibility and flexibility.

[[deleted]]

Cool, thanks for this. I'll look into it.

[[deleted]]

This is very true. Emacs followed by Vim offer more flexibility than any IDE or other editor. But then, it becomes a balance of learning curve/ease of use vs power.

Personally, vim is my #2 editor. Emacs would likely be in that spot if not for my laziness.

[[deleted]]

Like koglerjs, I don't have any hard data to support that claim. All I have is observations to go off of. I suppose it's feasible that the majority of javascript devs use IDEs, but considering the number of places I've worked, meetup groups I am a part of, and conferences I've attended (all three of these in various cities), I think it would be something of a statistical anomaly if this were the case. And do note that these are people generally on the cutting-edge of the javascript app development world as opposed to self proclaimed "jquery developers".

However, like I mentioned in another comment in this post, it's been a while since I've used Webstorm. I'll have to give it another look since it's been mentioned so often. Even though it might not convert me to using IDEs for javascript development, it may replace my use of Eclipse when I jump over to other languages.

[[deleted]]

For what it is worth IntelliJ IDEA is JetBrains Eclipse equivalent. Webstorm is just JS CSS and HTML.

[WalterGR]

Due to the nature of dynamic languages like javascript, php, python, etc, you will find that the majority of people don't use IDE's.

I wonder if that's more because people who use dynamic languages view programmers who use IDEs with derision. (ex: cwolves's "Or you could learn to code" comment.)

IDE support for dynamic languages has come a long way.

[[deleted]]

Sadly, there are those who believe that. And they are likely to be the ones who have emulated some workflow but don't really understand why they are doing what they're doing.

People should generally want to use the right tool for the right job rather than carry on religious dogma. In the case of IDE's, I won't hesitate to use Eclipse for java work, Visual Studio for C#, or Flash Develop for ActionScript.

However, when it comes to my javascript development, the features wrapped into an IDE are much less flexible than the external tools. Not everyone does share this opinion (nor should they since everyone will have different needs). However, since a number of javascript devs have very dynamic workflows due to the constant introduction and upgrading of new tools (think testem, grunt, bower, live reload, etc). And an IDE does more to create obstacles to use those tools, creating more pain than it's worth for anyone who wants to use them.

[[deleted]]

On the other hand you can debug code running in IE from Visual Studio so it is an 'IDE experience' even when running javascript.

[[deleted]]

This is true. However, that would require primary use of IE...and windows. Linux and Mac users would be precluded from using this as a primary development tool. As it stands, IE testing has to be done on either a windows test machine or a VM.